


Athene Willow and the Kingsworthy Ring

by nothingbig



Category: Trials & Trebuchets
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2020-05-18 13:59:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19335949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingbig/pseuds/nothingbig
Summary: Trouble's brewing in Wildcliff, and student detective Athene Willow is about to get caught in the middle of all of it. Happening concurrently with the main cast's adventures in the podcast, this story focuses on the class of second year students. (Keep an eye out for the S.W.I.M. team's shenanigans and their ramifications to the student body at large!)





	1. Chapter 1

    Wildcliff, School of the Arcane. Where Agiya’s best and brightest young mages would go to hone their craft, and have the best years of their lives. I didn’t belong there, and I knew it.

    My name is Athene Willow, and I’ve never cast a spell in my life. But I knew something my fellow students never learned, and it’s this: The world doesn’t cater to the magical, just the powerful. And there were many types of power that were never covered in Spellcraft or Divine Theory. The power I had was solving people’s problems with discretion and speed, which made me indispensable to the ecosystem of Wildcliff. That power was also what brought Ransom Kingsworthy to my door at the beginning of our second year.

     As she crossed the threshold into my dorm, her keen elven eyes roamed over the barren room and she took a seat. “Are you still settling in, Athene? Or maybe you’re going for a more minimalist aesthetic.”

     I scoffed and replied, “What are you doing here, Ransom? It’s too early in the year for you to need my services, and you don’t pay social calls to bottomfeeders.” I had helped Ransom once last year. Though she paid well, she never forgave me for providing proof that her paramour had been unfaithful. People like her didn’t want me to find the truth, just to soothe their fears. I had learned that lesson after the fact, and assumed she wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me since then.

     “Athene, I’m hurt,” she replied with mock sincerity. “You really underestimate my propensity to find trouble.”

     I shot back, “No, I just overestimate your ability to solve your own problems. Cut to the chase.” She gave me an overexaggerated pout, and then retrieved a small pouch of coins from her cloak’s inner pocket. Its apparent weight in her hand made me that much more aware of the lack of gold in my own pocket. Having to pay my tuition up front for this semester had left me in dire straits, and she probably knew that.

     “Please, Athene, you could really learn some manners. After all, how do you expect to have returning customers when you treat them so poorly?”

     “I prefer to let my work speak for itself.”

     “ _Money_ talks, my dear. We both know that.” Ransom could see me eyeing the pouch in her hand. She knew that she had my attention, and was enjoying it thoroughly. I forced a smile.

     “What can I do for you, Ms. Kingsworthy? Same task as last time?” This earned me the kind of glare that makes you grateful looks can’t kill.

     “No, Tarvyn has been totally faithful ever since you got Dorian expelled last year. Thanks for that, by the way.”

     “That had nothing to do with whatever drama the three of you were caught up in.”

     “Fine, I’ll retract my  thanks. All the same,” she leaned forward and gave a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “That little stunt is what brought me here. I think you can do me an even greater service, and I’ll see to it that you’re rewarded quite handsomely.” With that, she tossed the pouch my way and I caught it. As I opened it up I could see she wasn’t kidding. There must’ve been a hundred platinum pieces within.

     Seeing the look of surprise cross my face, she continued, “That’s only the first half, Mr. Willow. Are you interested in earning the rest?” I swallowed in response. This was ten times my usual rate, and would pay for two years’ worth of tuition and boarding. If money talks, then Ransom’s offer was a whisper telling me I was about to get in over my head.

     “Absolutely.”


	2. Chapter 2

     Ransom Kingsworthy had many faults, but she was good at giving the information I was asking for.

     “So you’ve lost a ring? Can’t be worth more than what you’re paying me.”

     “The ring is a valuable family heirloom. It’s been passed down for generations, and you _know_ elven generations are much longer than what you humans are used to.”

     “Spare me the history lesson. When did you realize you lost it?”

     “This morning. I woke up and it wasn’t on my nightstand with my other jewelry, which concerned me.”

     “You keep your jewelry on your nightstand? You know what, that’s actually not important. Do you and your roommate often share clothing or jewelry? Perhaps she took it without asking.”

     “Please, Claire knows she isn’t allowed to touch my things. And besides, the ring would never fit on her dirty dwarven fingers.” I raised an eyebrow at this.

     “Trouble in paradise, Ms. Kingsworthy?”

     “Don’t be absurd. Claire is a perfectly acceptable roommate, but that doesn’t mean we have to be friends. She keeps our room clean with her little invisible servant, and I make sure she wakes up on time for her classes.”

     I took all this down in my notebook. “Any enemies? People who might be envious of your wealth?” She laughed in response.

     “Please, Athene. I don’t have any enemies here anymore, thanks to you. And it’s safe for me to assume _everyone_ is jealous of my wealth.” She had a point. The Kingsworthy family was one of the richest in Agiya, and wasn’t afraid to flaunt it at every occasion.

     “Fair enough. One last question, though: If you really assume you don’t have any enemies here, why not ask someone who can cast Locate Object to find your ring? Like your roommate. She is a cleric, after all.”

     For the first time during our encounter, she actually seemed caught off-guard. Quickly regaining her composure, she replied “I did, actually. Claire said it wasn’t showing up for her, so I assumed it was being protected magically. And when magical solutions are useless, everyone knows to come to you for a mundane perspective.”

     She was baiting me into defending my methods, and I almost gave in. But I ignored the chip on my shoulder and replied, “Ransom, lying to someone who’s going to be helping you is never a wise move. The more I know, the faster I can get you that ring.”

     Her eyes narrowed in response and she stood to leave. “I’m telling you what I know. If I wanted the ‘concerned authority figure’ act I would’ve gone to one. Get me my ring.”

     She stormed out of my room, slamming the door behind her. I let out a heavy sigh as I looked out my window to the landscape below, and gave a shrug to the blue jay sitting on the open windowsill. It began to whistle cheerily, and began to rub my temples.

     I made eye contact with the bird and asked, “So how much of that did you hear, Jay?” The whistling stopped as it flew in, and transformed into a dark skinned halfling in front of me. My roommate, Jayten Feritas, wore a wide grin on his face as he plopped down in the empty chair Ransom had been sitting in previously.

     With his feet dangling above the ground, he answered with a grin, “Just about all of it. I may have missed the foreplay, but I got back in time for the good stuff.” I rolled my eyes and surreptitiously slipped the pouch into one of my school uniform’s pockets.

     “So what are your thoughts?” I asked. Jay was a druid, which were rare in our class at Wildcliff. Most druids thought of the school as a distraction from their roots in nature, but not Jayten. He was the closest thing I had to a partner in my endeavors at the  school.

     “I think she’s paying you too much for tracking down a lost item.” He winked at me, and I nodded. Very little escaped Jay’s sight, which made living with him a bit of a challenge at times.

     “I’d better get started. Would you mind keeping your ear to the ground for me?”

     “For ten percent, sure.”

     I groaned inwardly, but I knew his help was well worth it. “Thanks, Jayten.” I stood from my chair and headed for the door.

     “Where are you headed off to first?”

     “Not sure yet,” I replied as I rubbed my face thoughtfully. “I’m thinking I should get some directions. I'll be paying Ari a visit, don't wait up.”


	3. Chapter 3

     Strolling the halls of Wildcliff was lonely. The walls and floor were stone, and I could hear the herds of students from a mile away. I used to joke with one of my friends that the echoes of footsteps were actually phantoms who would haunt the halls. I wonder now if we were right.  
     Thankfully, the only one haunting this hall was my good friend and one of Wildcliff’s golems: Ari. Ari had a lot in common with ghosts: No heartbeat, seemingly ageless, and staying constrained in one spot for all of eternity. Spectres tended to spectate a bit less than Ari, though. The golem could be found listening in on everything from faculty meetings to chatter in the bathroom. That’s what made them indispensable to me.  
     “Ari,” I called out as I approached. “Have you got anything good for me?”  
     “Master. Athene. Gossip. Is. Slow. The. School. Year. Has. Only. Just. Begun.” The golem replied with stilted speech, stowing the broom they had been using. This typically happened after they went too long without talking to students. I always figured they had to relearn how to converse after going too long without sharing gossip.  
     “Ah, that’s too bad. Mind if I change that?”  
Ari leaned down to bring their oblong crystal head level to my own. I could see my reflection: tired eyes and olive skin, distorted by the shape of Ari’s head. They waited a moment too long before replying, and almost caught me off guard when they did.  
     “Athene. What. Would. You. Like. In. Return. For. This. Hot. Goss?”  
     “Just wanted to know how many magical items have gone missing or been marked as destroyed since school was last in session.”  
     “Interesting. Request. And. What. Do. You. Offer?”  
     I shrugged nonchalantly as I spoke, “You know Ransom Kingsworthy? I heard she has a crush on her roommate. You didn’t hear it from me, though.”  
     It’s difficult to register surprise on a faceless head. But Ari’s body shifted slightly: one inch towards me and and then another two inches away.  
     “Is. That. So?”  
     “It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out, Ari. She could afford her own room for the next century if she so chose. But instead she wants to wake up to the pretty dwarven face of Claire Stonewick.”  
     Ari stood motionless, thinking over this new tidbit and measuring its worth against my request.  
     “That. Is. Plausible. It. May. Not. Be true. But. It is. Juicy. Gossip.”  
     I exhaled a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Ari could be fickle when it came to the relative value of a piece of gossip, and that was the only card I could play right now. The small click of gears beneath Ari’s robe began to get louder, and soon they had a small piece of parchment with the requested information printed upon it.  
     Four students had reported missing magical valuables, and Ari had been kind enough to include their names. I recognized all but one.  
     “Ari,” I began, “Who is Teb?”  
     “Master. Athene. No. Amount. Of. Gossip. Will. Earn. That. Information.”  
     I stared, incredulous. But Ari continued before I could respond.  
     “There. Is. Nothing. To. Be. Gained. From. Teb. He. Knows. Nothing. Except. That. He. Has. Lost. Many. Things. Good. Luck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to sarah for beta reading! i couldn’t because i'm too alpha.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lowkey ao3's html formatting is so impenetrable to me that i don't even care about the trash formatting in this chapter (by which i mean i couldn't figure out an easy and consistent way to have an indent at the beginning of each paragraph). hope you enjoy despite this!

I met with Jayten after my conversation with Ari and began to fill him in on the three leads I had, excluding this mysterious Teb person. We sat in our somewhat spartan dormitory, with the sun’s waning light giving the room a golden glow. Jay had taken a seat on the sill, with the kind of nonchalance only someone with flight can have when they’re one strong sneeze away from a drop off the side of a mountain.

“Lead number one: Jack Slope. Ring any bells?”

“Don’t have any classes with him, but I know the guy. Pretty pompous fella for someone so average. What’s he missing?”

"Enchanted crossbow. Nothing special, honestly, just enhanced for accuracy.”

"Dude needed it. For someone in Martial Applications, dude was a shit shot.”

"How do you know?”

Jayten shrugged casually as he stared out the window at the world below. I had no idea how he didn’t get vertigo from the sight. “Sometimes I’d take bets with the MA kids. Like ‘hey if you can hit me while i’m a bird or something you get five gold.’ Easy money.”

“You need better hobbies.”

“You need hobbies in general. Who’s next?”

I ran one hand through my hair as I wrote Slope’s details down with the other. Next on the list was a name we both knew. “Tarvyn Vesper.” Jay groaned.

“Well we can’t follow up on that. If he sees you, you can kiss your front teeth goodbye with the fat lips you’ll have instead. Y’know, because of the beating.”

I shot him a glare. “Thanks for spelling it out, sometimes I forget you’re the brains of our operation. Did you even do any investigating today?”

“Sure did. I saw a talking cat!”

“A talking cat?! How is this useful?”

“Time enjoyed is never time wasted! What’s Tarvyn missing anyways?

I sighed and looked back down at the report Ari had given me. “Pair of boots. Apparently they hide your tracks so Tarvyn couldn’t track down the thief himself.”

“You sure they’re not up the ass of some first year?”

“I don’t know and I don’t plan on checking. You should look around for them. Turn into a dog and sniff them out, that sort of thing.” Jayten wrinkled his nose but didn’t decline. A guy who needs to be shot at for five gold can’t exactly turn down every employment opportunity that comes his way. I continued to the next lead.

“Finally, we have a third-year, Penny Royal. I think she’s buddy-buddy with Professor Raethran’s daughter, but besides that I haven’t heard much about her. Missing a cloak that lets the wearer blend in with their surroundings.”

“Seems like a nasty combination with those boots.”

“My thoughts exactly. If these all ended up in the same person’s hands, we’d have a major—“

My sentence was cut short by a knock on our door. I stowed the list in my cloak’s inner pocket and opened it to a lanky elf who I met last year.

“Aaltine, I didn’t expect to see you this early in the year. I was hoping you’d be too busy giving the headmaster’s boots a nice tongue polish.”

His face pulled into a tight smile, entirely lacking in humor. “A pity the summer break didn’t cure your lack of respect, Master Willow. I’m here to take you to meet with the headmaster immediately.”

I bristled, “Now wait a minute, I haven’t even had time to do anything yet!”

“Duly noted. Let’s not keep the headmaster waiting. The last thing we need is a recreation of last year’s events.”


	5. Chapter 5

As we made our way to Underbough’s office, I shoved my hands in the pockets of my blue school robes. It was a familiar route at this point, and the portraits of past headmasters looked almost like old acquaintances. Proud faces at the pinnacle of power, without ever having to pay a thought to the world outside their ivory tower. Soon enough, we reached the door to the office.  


Aaltine stopped his swishing steps and turned to face me, looking at me with the same mix of pity and derision you’d give to a dog straining against a chain.  


“Go on in, the headmaster is expecting you. And I’d wish you luck, but-”  


“But they never taught you kind words when you were learning common?”  


“ _But _you’ve never heard a kind word you couldn’t twist into a cruel one. Goodbye, Athene.”  
__

__With that, he turned and began his descent. Despite all my trips up and down this staircase, I still didn’t know where he hid while waiting for the call of his headmaster. Some mysteries are never solved because they’re too difficult, but this one remained unsolved because it was vastly uninteresting. I opened the door and stepped in.  
_ _

__Underbough’s office was a tidy affair, a small circular room with a desk the perfect size for the balding halfling sitting behind it. He didn’t stand as I entered, instead opting to take a small peppermint from his desk and pop it into his mouth. It crunched as he chewed it, and the look on his face told me that he had already decided how this conversation was going to go.  
_ _

__Confident in the knowledge that I couldn’t improve this situation, I made my way to the globe in the corner of the office. I had never seen one before I was ordered into the office for the first time last year, and it was such a rare thing that I tried to get a closer look at every opportunity. To his credit, Underbough didn’t order me to take a seat in front of his desk. He looked on, waiting for me to begin the conversation. So I humored him.  
_ _

__“You must get pretty lonely if you’re calling up students for social calls on the first day back to class, Underbough. Are you not invited to the professors’ speakeasy they have on school grounds?”  
_ _

___Crunch. _“Master Willow, if I desired pleasant company I would not have called for you. I am certain you would like to know why I have summoned you here.”  
____

___There were so many places on this globe, and I couldn’t pronounce half their names. And I could guarantee you that Underbough had visited five of them at most. “A fiend or an elemental gets summoned, professor. I consider this an invitation.”  
__ _

____Crunch. _“An invitation implies you have the ability to refuse, Master Willow.”  
__ _ _ _

___I turned to meet his gaze, his beady eyes doing their best to drill holes into me. “One of these days I just might.”  
_ _ _

____Swallow. _“If that happens, I will not be headmaster or you will no longer be enrolled here.” His eyes narrowed as he continued, “Guess which is more likely.”  
__ _ _ _

___I made my way toward him, sitting in the center of the three wooden chairs in front of his desk. The light of the quickly setting sun shone through the window, casting long shadows behind me. I waited for a moment, then spoke, “So did you invite me in to talk, or are you just going to keep staring at and wait for looks to kill?”  
_ _ _

___He took another peppermint from the bowl, and stared at it thoughtfully before putting it in his mouth. He closed his eyes, and steepled his fingers. I couldn’t tell if he was savoring the candy, or simply taking a moment to gather his thoughts.  
_ _ _

___“Master Willow, during your first year here, you were, to put it simply, a troublemaker. And you know how I feel about those.”  
_ _ _

___“I know you act like they don’t exist until things get too bad for you to ignore them.”  
_ _ _

___He glared, the fleeting calm that was once on his face had disappeared completely. I gritted my teeth.  
_ _ _

____Crunch. _“Our school’s record of good behavior is unimpeachable. I do not ‘ignore’ anything; the other students are simply better than you.”  
__ _ _ _

___I felt heat rush into my cheeks, and matched his icy fury with my own. “Better at covering their tracks, maybe. And guess who they have to ask for help with that?”  
_ _ _

____Crunch. _“If other such troublemakers exist, name them. It is your duty as an upstanding student of Wildcliff.”  
__ _ _ _

___“Not happening.” I ran my fingers through my hair, and leaned forward. “What is this all about, _headmaster? _”  
___ _ _

____Swallow. _“This meeting was simply to see if you had become more... well-mannered over the break. You did us a service with Dorian last year. I was hoping you had turned over a new leaf. I do not expect you to begin being a pillar of your community, but I do expect you to keep from making any trouble or getting involved in other students’ trouble. Your stay at our university has always been a precarious one, given your lack of interest in actually practicing magic-”  
__ _ _ _

___I cut him off by saying, “You and I both know I could if I wanted to. I’ve aced every exam put in front of me without casting a single spell.”  
_ _ _

___He put up a hand and continued, “And you do yourself no favors by misbehaving. If you had not helped us with Dorian last year, I would not have allowed you to return for a second year of education. To put it simply, the more you help this administration, the less precarious your position becomes. That is all I have to say, and I sincerely hope you heed my words.”  
Before I could respond, there was a knock at the door. Aaltine poked his head in and let the headmaster know the next three students were here to see him. Underbough rubbed the bridge of his nose before reaching to the bowl of peppermints one more time.  
_ _ _

___“More troublemakers. Master Willow, you may leave.”  
_ _ _

___He acted a lot taller than he was. I got up, grabbed a handful of candy to stuff in my pocket, and left. If I spoke, chances are I would’ve ended up leaving through that window behind him._ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AO3 FORMATTING CONTINUES TO BE MY MORTAL ENEMY JUST IMAGINE EACH "Crunch." OR "Swallow." IN ITALICS THANK YOU


	6. Chapter 6

I walked past the three first year students as I exited the office. A tiefling, half-elf, and gnome, all too caught up in their own fear of authority to even notice me. The little gnome boy wouldn’t stop crying, and I thought to myself: _Poor kid won’t last through a semester if this is how he acts at the first sign of trouble._

As I left the Enchantment Tower, I was struck by how perspective is a tricky thing. If I was a different person, maybe I’d approach this case a bit differently. Maybe I’d enlist Underbough’s help, maybe I wouldn’t have taken it at all. And maybe, if I had looked for a bit longer, I would’ve noticed that hulking figure wasn’t a jeed walking towards me.

“Right, I was just getting back to my dorm, you don’t have to… Oh. Hey there, big guy.”

Tarvyn Towerborn loomed over me, his long red hair was loose and spilled down past his shoulders, curtaining his face like fire without a glow. He was broad, muscular, and intimidating, all of which were perfect traits for his future as Ransom’s eventual bodyguard. They were also perfect to reminders for why I needed to speak as little as possible; angering him could lead to a fight, and that was the last thing I wanted for a variety of reasons.

“Investigator. I want you to walk with me.” He rumbled, a perfect imitation of distant thunder.

“You know what, I would love to, but—“

“That was not a request, nor was it an order. Simply a statement of desire.” He held out his left hand as he walked a step ahead of me, and an axe simply appeared in his palm. He turned his head to look back at me, awaiting my response.

“That may have been a statement of desire,” I said as I walked next to him, “but I think summoning your weapon makes this more of a threat than anything else.” He didn’t respond, and we moved forward. The moonlight would illuminate his face, and I could see the scars Ransom gave him last year when she found out about his tryst with Dorian. They hadn’t healed well.

“You know, it’s good that you grabbed me. You were on my list of people to question. I heard about your boots. Mind if I ask about them?”

“I have questions for you as well, Athene. We will alternate between questions until one of us has run out. You have asked your first.”

My brow furrowed, but I didn’t argue. I told myself it was because arguing with an armed man who could hardly fit through a doorframe was a death sentence. But I’ll be honest: I wanted to play this game with him. Seeing him like this, calm and conversational, made me want to play his game. He had changed, as long as you ignored the fact that he was brandishing a weapon.

“Why did you take another job from Ransom?”

“She pays well and I have tuition to deal with. When did you realize your boots were missing?”

“As I was packing my things to leave for summer break. I hadn’t needed to use them, and thought they would be collecting dust under my bed.”

“Heh, I just assume you just lifted the bed over your head to check.”

“You are correct. Do you know what Ms. Kingsworthy’s ring is capable of?”

“You used to call her Ransom.”

“Answer the question, Athene.” He didn’t say it like it was an order. I didn’t hear him tighten his grip on the axe. He just sounded really tired.

“I don’t, not yet. Do y-“ I paused mid-question and changed tactics. If he ran out of questions before I did, I would lose too many opportunities to gather information.

“What does it do, Tarvyn?”

“It allows the wearer to avoid magical detection. The Kingsworthy family is not fond of magical eavesdroppers and spies. Do you know where Dorian ended up?”

I stopped in my tracks, and Tarvyn turned to look at me. He tilted his head down to make eye contact, and his hair fell forward once again. It kept the moonlight from reaching his face, and I couldn’t read his expression. Which told me he was hiding something that would be plain to see in his eyes. In trying to hide that, he told me a lot. I sighed.

“I do, but are you sure you want to know?” I bit my tongue too late, wasting a question on the well-being of a man who was ready to hurt me.

“I want to know. Where are they now?”

I paused. He stepped closer. I stepped away, so caught up in our questions that I didn’t realize he had been leading our walk to have me up against a wall. He placed his right hand on the wall behind me, cornering me.

“Answer me, Athene.”

I gave in, “Dry Falls, to the south of here.”

With that, he dropped his hand from the wall and stared down at me. My heart was racing. I felt so small in comparison.

“I’ve learned what I wanted to know, and given you plenty in return. Ask your final question, and leave.”

I now had so many more questions. Some related to the task at hand, most related to person I once called a partner. I closed my eyes, cleared my head, and focused on what was important to the case.

“I know Ransom has many people who could be targeting her. She told me so herself. But who does she hate most in Wildcliff?”

Tarvyn rubbed his chin thoughtfully, no doubt looking through the catalog of names she had mentioned in a furious rant he had to endure. He tilted his head upwards, and I thought about how much he had heard and seen. And as my eyes focused on the claw marks across his cheek, I considered all he had to suffer through as well. All to have a spot at the side of a powerful woman.

“I’ve never asked her. But the names she mentions in anger most often are Professor Underbough, Jack Slope, and your own. Be careful, investigator. Taking walks with dangerous men in the future may not be as fruitful.”


End file.
